As described in the Lockton et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,546, home television viewers of a football game or other sports events or another type of TV game may play along to predict, for example, the play called by the quarterback and/or, in the case of a quiz game, to guess the correct answer along with the actual player in the TV studio. As described by the above patent, the football game, for example, is received on a normal television receiver and the interactivity with that game is made possible by a second mass communication download to the individual remote participant by either the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of a television signal or an FM (SCA) radio channel.
A major source of income for many entertainment businesses including television, radio and print media is advertising. Television advertisers especially would like to receive immediate feedback on the part of the consumer after watching an ad with a minimum of effort. Some of the feedback might involve an answer to a survey conducted by the advertiser, a quiz perhaps with a prize to test the impact of the advertisement and, most importantly, the advertiser would like to be able to capitalize on the consumer's impulse by allowing an immediate purchase.